Midland, Texas

The hometown of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, has been a major oil-producing area since the early 1920s.

It's a white-collar town where many of the managers and executives who supervise oil production live. That's where "W's" dad, George H.W. Bush, moved to get into the oil business.

The current energy boom is driving Midland's population growth, according to Thomas Mesenbourg, acting director of the Census Bureau.

"The Permian Basin, located primarily in West Texas, and North Dakota, accounted for almost half of the total U.S. growth in firms that mine or extract oil and gas, during [the] one-year period," he said.

In December,the unemployment rate in Midland was a miniscule 3.1%, down from 3.6% earlier.